A couple who went on the run with their newborn daughter have been found guilty of her manslaughter by gross negligence.

Constance Marten, 38, and Mark Gordon, 51, were convicted on Monday following a lengthy and chaotic retrial at the Old Bailey, which the judge accused them of trying to "sabotage" and "derail".

It comes more than two years after the decomposed body of their baby, Victoria, had been discovered in a shopping bag in Brighton.

An earlier trial at the same court found them guilty of concealing the birth of a child, perverting the course of justice by not reporting her death, and of child cruelty - the latter of which could not be reported until now.

To now have been found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence means that the jury found that the couple's behaviour had been so exceptionally bad and fell below the standard of reasonably competent parents.

The prosecution had argued during their retrial that Marten and Gordon had made a conscious decision to not keep Victoria safe, and that it was clear their actions had been deliberate.

Central to the prosecution's case was that Victoria had died from hypothermia or by being smothered while co-sleeping in a small, thin tent in cold, damp and windy conditions in January 2023.

It is thought that the couple went on the run to avoid the authorities and keep Victoria, their fifth child together, with their four other children having being been previously taken into care.

Marten and Gordon both refused to stand as the jury delivered its unanimous verdict on Monday. Marten shook her head and sighed, while Gordon sat with his eyes closed and his head resting back on the wall.

Gordon also told the judge following the verdicts that he planned to "win on appeal" and described it as an "unfair trial".

Speaking afterwards, chief prosecutor Jaswant Narwal said the defendants had shown "little remorse for their actions" and had used "different antics to frustrate and delay court proceedings".

"I hope these convictions provide a sense of justice and comfort to all those affected by this tragic case."

Samantha Yellend, London's senior crown prosecutor, said it was "shocking" that the couple would expose their child to "such obvious risks" and that their "reckless actions were driven by a selfish desire to keep their baby no matter the cost".

In the retrial, the jury also heard that Gordon had been convicted of rape in Florida in 1989 when he was aged 14.

For legal reasons, this conviction - for which he was sentenced to 40 years in prison and deported back to the UK after serving 20 years - was not made known during the first trial.

The couple became the subjects of a police manhunt in 2023 when officers found evidence of a recent birth in a burnt-out car near Bolton.

They were found on 27 February 2023 and Victoria was discovered dead two days later in an allotment shed in the Hollingbury area of Brighton.

She had died in a tent in the South Downs in January that year.

Det Supt Lewis Basford, who led the search for them, said Victoria's death was "completely avoidable" and that the couple had many opportunities to "do the right thing and... ask for help".

"We have waited more than two years to secure justice for baby Victoria and I am pleased we have now been able to get that for her - despite her parents trying to disrupt and derail not one, but two trials," he said.

He added that as a father himself, he found it "hard to comprehend how, instead of providing the warmth and care their child needed" Marten and Gordon "chose to live outside during freezing conditions to avoid the authorities".

The couple are expected to be sentenced in September.

Four people who died when a small plane crashed at London Southend Airport are believed to be foreign nationals, police have confirmed.

The airport has been closed since emergency services were called to the incident involving a Beech B200 Super King shortly before 16:00 BST on Sunday.

Witnesses described a "fireball" type explosion soon after the Netherlands-bound light aircraft had taken off.

All four people were killed in the crash - two pilots and two passengers - and Essex Police said in a press conference on Monday it believed they were foreign nationals.

The names of the four who died have not been released but officers are now working to confirm their identities.

Ch Supt Morgan Cronin said the victims would be "treated with the utmost respect and dignity".

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has put in place a significant air exclusion zone surrounding the crash site.

All flights to and from the airport on Monday have been rerouted, with passengers advised to check with their airline for advice.

The Beech B200 Super King Air plane was operated by Zeusch Aviation, based at Lelystad Airport in the Netherlands, which has confirmed it is "actively supporting the authorities with the investigation".

The plane had flown from the Greek capital Athens to Pula in Croatia on Sunday before heading to Southend. It was due to return to Lelystad on Sunday evening.

Detectives and forensic teams are working in parallel with the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), the Royal Air Force, Essex County Fire and Rescue Service and London Southend Airport to work out what happened.

Speaking at the press conference, Lisa Fitzsimons, a senior inspector at the AAIB, said it was "too early to speculate on what caused this tragic accident".

"If there are safety lessons that can be learned, we will make recommendations that will aim to prevent a similar accident occurring," she said.

Eight of its inspectors are now at the crash site.

A London Southend Airport spokesperson said: "Our thoughts are with those affected by [Sunday's] events and all passengers impacted by this disruption.

"We will restart flight operations as soon as possible and will continue to update the public on developments."

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Production has begun on the new TV adaptation of Harry Potter, as the first picture of the lead actor in costume was released.

JK Rowling's series of novels has already been made into a film, but HBO is now producing a TV series which is expected to take 10 years to complete.

Producers released the first picture of Dominic McLaughlin in costume as Harry Potter on Monday and confirmed several new cast members.

Rory Wilmot hast been cast as Neville Longbottom, Amos Kitson as Dudley Dursley, Louise Brealey as Madam Rolanda Hooch, and Anton Lesser as Garrick Ollivander.

They join stars such as John Lithgow, who will play Dumbledore, Nick Frost as Hagrid, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall and Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape.

The three child actors who will play Harry, Ron and Hermione were announced in May.

The programme will be filmed at Warner Bros Studios Leavesden in Hertfordshire, which is where the eight Harry Potter movies were also shot.

HBO has previously said the series would be "a faithful adaptation of the iconic books".

The TV series will have more breathing space to explore the plot lines from the books without the time constraints of the film.

Producers also announced new production staff, several of whom have previously worked on The Crown such as director of photography Adriano Goldman and hair and makeup designer Cate Hall.

The first series will launch in 2027.

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Mark Gordon is a dangerous "psychopath" who should have been locked up for life as a child, an American woman he raped 36 years ago has told the BBC.

Gordon was jailed for attacking his neighbour at knifepoint in Miami when he was aged 14 and BBC News has now obtained US court papers revealing the shocking nature of the crimes.

Gordon, 51, and his partner, Constance Marten, 38, have been found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter, after their baby, Victoria, died while they were on the run from UK authorities.

The pair became the focus of a nationwide search after Gordon - who was put on the sex offender's register when he returned to the UK - and Marten disappeared while she was pregnant.

Social services had already taken four of their other children into care.

Gordon has always maintained his rape conviction was unlawful.

'I know he is evil'

For legal reasons, the jury at their first Old Bailey trial was not told Gordon had been convicted of rape in 1989 but details emerged during the retrial.

He was sentenced to 40 years in prison and, after serving 20 years, was deported back to the UK.

BBC News can reveal the full details of the brutal assault, having obtained court documents from his sentencing hearing at Broward County Courthouse, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1990.

The victim of his crime, Jane - not her real name - told the BBC she had followed the recent legal proceedings from thousands of miles away in the US.

She says she was "floored" when she found out the man who attacked her more than three decades ago was on the run from police in the UK in 2023.

Jane says Gordon should have been imprisoned in the US for life. "The four-and-a-half hours I spent with him was enough to know he is evil," she says.

Warning: This story contains descriptions of a violent sexual attack.

Gordon, who was born in the UK, moved to the US as a child with his mother. They initially lived in New York, before settling in Miami.

US court papers reveal how, in late April 1989, he broke into his neighbour's bungalow one night, wearing a mask and armed with a knife and a pair of garden shears.

The court heard how Gordon raped Jane, a mother-of-two, multiple times in an attack that lasted more than four hours. He threatened to kill her children, who were aged nine and seven at the time, if she screamed.

Jane, who was then aged 30, told Judge Stanton Kaplan she had been woken by the sound of her dog barking.

"I went to my bedroom door and hesitated," she said. "I opened the door and was met with the sight of a masked figure dressed in black." Jane said she screamed and he told her: "Don't scream or I'll kill your children."

"I knew there was no way out," she said.

Jane then described being repeatedly raped by the teenager at knife point.

"I was told to say goodbye to my children because this was the day I was going to die. I was told I was worthless, not as good as the others, which led me to believe I was not the first one he had raped.

"As he was telling me these things, he was running the knife up and down my body. He was jabbing at my skin deep enough to hurt but not cut.

"He was holding it over my heart, saying: 'All I have to do is push and you are dead'. I was terrified my children would find my body covered in blood. He enjoyed the nightmare he was causing."

The same court heard, three weeks after attacking Jane, Gordon broke into the home of a couple called Patrick and Annette Nash, who lived a few doors down.

Prosecutors said masked and dressed in black, he made his way to their bedroom. When Annette woke and screamed, Gordon hit her husband with a shovel before fleeing.

At a hearing on 29 February 1990, Gordon pleaded guilty to four counts of armed sexual battery (rape), one of armed kidnapping, one of aggravated battery and two of burglary with a weapon. He later withdrew his guilty plea and stood trial in a chaotic court case in 1994 where he was convicted.

The defence's main witness in mitigation during the sentencing hearing was Gordon's mother, Sylvia Satchell. She revealed to the judge that her son had been the victim of sexual abuse at the age of four while at a nursery in Birmingham.

"I'm asking for a little leniency for him," she told the judge. "This is a first offender and I wouldn't want him to be a hardened criminal at this young age. He's only 15 now."

In a foretaste of his behaviour during his Old Bailey trials, Gordon tried to sack his lawyer and said he was too sick to attend court. He was eventually sentenced to 40 years in prison.

After the attack, Jane's life fell apart. She said her home no longer felt safe and she could not spend another night there.

"Now I'm plagued by nightmares, living with friends or relatives, afraid to be alone," she told the court in 1990.

"My children lost me for months while I dealt with what happened to me."

Jane says she still remembers packing what she could into her car and moving away. Eventually her home was sold for a fraction of what it was worth.

She now lives in a different part of the US, but still misses the Florida climate - particularly during the winter. "The cold is so painful," she says. "Once a Florida girl, always a Florida girl - yet another loss caused by Mr Gordon."

During Gordon's 1990 sentencing hearing, held before he retracted his pleas, Jane implored the US judge: "Please protect the innocent by keeping the guilty in prison for his life. Show him no mercy. Show him the guilty are punished and not merely chastised."

"I wanted them to sentence him as an adult and not just let him out when he was 18," Jane says now. "He showed me no mercy. So show him no mercy and save the other women out there.

"I think he's just evil."

If you have been affected by the issues raised in this story, help and support is available via the BBC Action Line

A BBC documentary about Gaza breached editorial guidelines on accuracy by failing to disclose the narrator was the son of a Hamas official, the corporation's review has found.

BBC director general Tim Davie commissioned the review into Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone, after it was pulled from iPlayer in February when the boy's family connections emerged.

The review found that the independent production company, Hoyo Films, bears most of the responsibility for the failure. However, it said the BBC also bears some responsibility.

The BBC said the programme should not have been signed off, and it was taking appropriate action on accountability.

The BBC said it was taking a number of steps to prevent a similar breach being repeated:

• The corporation will create a new leadership role in news documentaries and current affairs. The new director role on the BBC News board, which will be advertised in the next week, will have strategic leadership of its long form output across the news division.
• New editorial guidance will be issued that careful consideration must be given to the use of narrators in the area of contested current affairs programmes, and that the narrator will be subject to a higher level of scrutiny
• A new "first gate" process will be introduced, meaning "no high-risk long form programmes can be formally commissioned until all potential compliance considerations are considered and listed"

The corporation did not name any individuals facing disciplinary action.

Hoyo Films said it took the reviews findings "extremely seriously" and said it "apologises for the mistake that resulted in a breach of the editorial guidelines".

The company said it was pleased the report had found there was "no evidence of inappropriate influence on the content of the documentary from any third party".

It said it welcomed the report's recommendations and "hope they will improve processes and prevent similar problems in the future".

Hoyo Films said it would work closely with the BBC to explore the possibility of using some material for re-edited and re-versioned shorter films for archive on iPlayer.

The BBC's director general Tim Davie apologised, saying the report "identifies a significant failing in relation to accuracy".

"We will now take action on two fronts," he continued. "Fair, clear and appropriate actions to ensure proper accountability and the immediate implementation of steps to prevent such errors being repeated."

'Not appropriate'

The review found three members of the independent production company knew of the father's position as deputy minister of agriculture in the Hamas-run government in Gaza, but no-one within the BBC knew this at the time.

However, the report criticised the BBC team for not being "sufficiently proactive" with initial editorial checks, and for a "lack of critical oversight" of unanswered or partially answered questions.

The review said it had seen no evidence "to support the suggestion that the narrator's father or family influenced the content of the programme in any way".

It added the narrator's scripted contribution to the programme did not constitute a breach of due impartiality.

However, the report concluded that the use of the child narrator for this programme was "not appropriate".

A financial examination found that a fee of £795 was was paid for the narrator, paid to his adult sister, an amount which was not "outside the range of what might be reasonable in the context".

The review was conducted by Peter Johnston, the BBC's director of editorial complaints and reviews.

The BBC Board said: "Nothing is more important than trust and transparency in our journalism. We welcome the actions the Executive are taking to avoid this failing being repeated in the future."

A report into BBC show MasterChef has found 45 allegations against Gregg Wallace were upheld including one of unwelcome physical contact and another three of being in a state of undress.

In total, the report says 83 allegations were made against the TV presenter, with the majority of the substantiated claims relating to inappropriate sexual language and humour, but also culturally insensitive and racist comments.

The inquiry, conducted by an independent law firm, was ordered by MasterChef's production company Banijay in the wake of a BBC News investigation which first revealed claims of inappropriate sexual comments against Wallace.

Ahead of the report's release, Wallace insisted it had cleared him of "the most serious and sensational allegations".

Last week, it emerged that he had been sacked as presenter of the cooking show, as dozens more people came forward to BBC News with fresh claims against him.

The 50 people who came forward to BBC News said they encountered Wallace across a range of shows and settings.

Around 20 were on Banijay productions, but others related to areas like night clubs, awards ceremonies and other TV shows. Some of the individuals we heard from also contributed to the Banijay inquiry.

A decision has not yet been made about unseen series of MasterChef which was filmed last year.

The report also says that ten standalone allegations were made against other people, two of which were substantiated.

Both of those substantiated allegations , which did not involve Wallace, relate to inappropriate language, one of swearing and one of racist language.

The investigation team also found evidence that between 2005 and 2024, six complaints were raised with the production company and six with the BBC.

Patrick Holland, chief executive of Banijay UK, said in earlier years, "it is clear that escalation procedures were not as robust as they should have been".

"We are extremely sorry to anyone who has been impacted by this behaviour and felt unable to speak up at the time or that their complaint was not adequately addressed," he added.

A BBC statement said: "Although the full extent of these issues were not known at the relevant time, opportunities were missed to address this behaviour – both by the production companies running MasterChef and the BBC.

"We accept more could and should have been done sooner."

The BBC said it apologised to "everyone who has been impacted by Mr Wallace's behaviour", and confirmed it has no plans to work with the presenter in future.

Gregg Wallace has been contacted for comment.

Four people who died when a small plane crashed at London Southend Airport are believed to be foreign nationals, police have confirmed.

The airport has been closed since emergency services were called to the incident involving a Beech B200 Super King shortly before 16:00 BST on Sunday.

Witnesses described a "fireball" type explosion soon after the Netherlands-bound light aircraft had taken off.

All four people were killed in the crash - two pilots and two passengers - and Essex Police said in a press conference on Monday it believed they were foreign nationals.

The names of the four who died have not been released but officers are now working to confirm their identities.

Ch Supt Morgan Cronin said the victims would be "treated with the utmost respect and dignity".

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has put in place a significant air exclusion zone surrounding the crash site.

All flights to and from the airport on Monday have been rerouted, with passengers advised to check with their airline for advice.

The Beech B200 Super King Air plane was operated by Zeusch Aviation, based at Lelystad Airport in the Netherlands, which has confirmed it is "actively supporting the authorities with the investigation".

The plane had flown from the Greek capital Athens to Pula in Croatia on Sunday before heading to Southend. It was due to return to Lelystad on Sunday evening.

Detectives and forensic teams are working in parallel with the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), the Royal Air Force, Essex County Fire and Rescue Service and London Southend Airport to work out what happened.

Speaking at the press conference, Lisa Fitzsimons, a senior inspector at the AAIB, said it was "too early to speculate on what caused this tragic accident".

"If there are safety lessons that can be learned, we will make recommendations that will aim to prevent a similar accident occurring," she said.

Eight of its inspectors are now at the crash site.

A London Southend Airport spokesperson said: "Our thoughts are with those affected by [Sunday's] events and all passengers impacted by this disruption.

"We will restart flight operations as soon as possible and will continue to update the public on developments."

Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.

Constance Marten and Mark Gordon's failures as parents are revealed by damning court papers, which have been released to BBC News.

A years-long family court case ended in January 2022 when their four children were permanently placed into care.

The documents show how over the years the couple fled to Ireland to avoid contact with social services when Marten was pregnant, refused antenatal and newborn healthcare and repeatedly missed contact sessions with their children once they were in care.

A turning point in the proceedings came when a family court judge ruled, "on the balance of probabilities", Gordon had caused Marten to fall from a first-floor window while she was pregnant.

Their fifth child, Victoria, died in January 2023 after they had gone on the run from authorities. Marten, 38, and Gordon, 51, were found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter on 14 July following a retrial.

They were convicted of child cruelty, concealing baby Victoria's birth and perverting the course of justice during their first trial in June 2024.

Until recently, family court hearings have taken place in private and journalists have not been permitted to report on them.

BBC News led a legal challenge which resulted in the publication of the documents.

The family court judgments, made across five years, provide an important insight into the couple's chaotic life together and the danger judges decided that posed to their four children.

Family court proceedings began in south Wales, where the couple's first baby was born, and continued in London, when Marten and Gordon moved there.

The papers reveal:

• Gordon did not call 999 after Marten fell from the window and he refused to let paramedics into their home to treat her
• Afterwards, Marten, pregnant with their third child, fled to Ireland to avoid contact with social services
• The couple put their children's health at risk by refusing standard antenatal and newborn healthcare
• Once their older children were in care, they repeatedly missed contact sessions with them
• Faced with permanently losing her children, Marten told a court she would separate from Gordon in a desperate bid to keep them - but the judge did not believe her

Marten and Gordon - a convicted rapist - returned from travelling around South America in June 2017. She was four months pregnant with their first child.

The pair had travelled through a country during an outbreak of the Zika virus - which can affect a baby's development - and the London hospital where Marten attended antenatal appointments became concerned. But Marten missed at least two more check-ups and then disappeared.

The hospital was worried enough to put out a "national alert". Marten's family also hired a private detective to find her.

Months later, she resurfaced in south Wales after going into labour.

Using the name Isabella O'Brien, and putting on an Irish accent, she told staff at Glangwili Hospital, in Carmarthen, that she was from the travelling community. But they weren't convinced and, remembering the national alert issued in London, called the police.

When officers arrived, there was a physical struggle in front of the other mothers and their babies - and Gordon was arrested. He was later sentenced to 20 weeks in prison for assaulting two female police officers.

This marked the start of a long and often chaotic journey through the family court system, in which Gordon and Marten repeatedly switched lawyers, represented themselves, or failed to turn up for hearings.

In the first court judgment, made by District Judge Taylor at Swansea Family Court in July 2018, a psychiatrist warned that Gordon had "the capacity to act in a violent manner", and could be violent when under stress.

He spent the initial weeks of their first baby's life in Cardiff prison, while Marten stayed with families in a series of mother and baby placements.

When Gordon was released, Marten travelled to visit him in London, leaving the newborn behind for 17 hours.

"There are some concerns that on occasions these parents prioritise their own relationship over [their baby's] needs," Judge Taylor recorded. Similar phrases crop up time and again throughout the 84 pages of court documents released to the BBC.

The judge found the couple had "poor decision-making skills" and a "potential to act impulsively".

At least twice, professionals warned Marten about the dangers of falling asleep with a newborn on her chest - Marten reportedly said she had taken the advice on board.

This first brush with the family courts ended with a six-month supervision order, allowing a social worker to "advise, assist and befriend" the couple's baby. But almost immediately they left Wales for London.

They lived in a series of houses in the east and south-east of the city, leaving without paying rent on more than one occasion - despite Marten having a regular income from a family trust fund.

In one of these houses, their second baby was born. They called a private midwife but Marten had given birth to the baby by the time she arrived. Gordon refused to tell the midwife his own name, and became angry when she called an ambulance, the court documents say.

By late 2019, Marten was pregnant with her third child, and this is when judgments from Her Honour Judge Reardon, at the East London Family Court, pick up the story. A local authority in London alleged domestic abuse between Marten and Gordon, that they had failed to provide adequately for their children's medical needs, and that they had attempted to evade an investigation into their welfare.

The judge wrote that the legal proceedings in front of her were "protracted and delayed", mainly because of the way the parents had conducted the litigation. Their attendance at hearings was intermittent and they gave excuses such as "toothache" and a "car accident" for not turning up.

'Help me, help me'

The night of 21 November 2019 would be a key turning point.

A neighbour was woken by screaming in the early hours of the morning. When he looked outside, he saw Marten falling from a first-floor window and landing on a car.

According to the judgments, Gordon did not call 999, but someone else did. When paramedics arrived, Marten was inside the house screaming: "Help me, help me."

Marten spent eight days in hospital being treated for a shattered spleen and lacerations to a kidney. She was 14 weeks pregnant, but the baby survived.

Gordon told police officers he and Marten had both fallen out of the window while trying to fix the TV aerial, but they remained suspicious.

• If you have been affected by the issues raised in this story, help and support is available via the BBC Action line

In her judgment Judge Reardon said: "I find on the balance of probabilities that the father caused the mother to fall out of the window. I am not able to find whether he pushed her or whether she fell during a struggle. The former may be more likely."

When Marten left hospital, social workers wanted to talk to her, but she fled with her two children to a hotel in Ireland. She was eventually persuaded to return, a month later. The two children were removed from her on arrival, and she has never got them back.

By the time Judge Reardon made her fact-finding judgment in January 2021, the couple's third baby had been born. This child was also removed when the couple refused to go to a residential assessment unit.

Judge Reardon said it wasn't easy to evaluate the dynamics of their relationship. She found Gordon was likely to have perpetrated a serious act of violence on Marten, so it would be natural for her to fear him, she said. But despite this, she formed the view that it was Marten who was the "dominant personality".

"The strong impression given by the parents is that of two people who are fiercely united in an unrelenting struggle against a non-existent opponent," she said.

"I conclude that the parents have repeatedly prioritised their own need for privacy and secrecy above their children's health.

"Essentially, these parents have rolled the dice three times in refusing the vast majority of standard maternity and newborn healthcare and checks. They have been lucky each time, but plenty of pregnancies do involve complications which, if unchecked or untreated, can become life-threatening for the mother or the baby or both."

It was a tragic prophecy of what was to befall the couple's fifth child, Victoria.

The couple began repeatedly missing contact sessions with their children, and then stopped visiting altogether. Their eldest child became distressed and developed a stammer. "My mummy and daddy cancelled again," the child told nursery staff.

In January 2022, Judge Reardon made her final decision: the couple's four children, one only a baby, would be permanently removed.

The judge said observations from the contact sessions left her with "vivid snapshots of what could, if this were the complete picture, be a loving and integrated family".

But she had to balance that against the risk of harm to the children, caused by the likelihood of exposure to violence between the parents and their attempts to avoid local authority intervention.

"Perhaps most hurtful, from the children's point of view, is their parents' baffling lack of commitment to them over the course of these lengthy proceedings and their inability, or unwillingness, to do what needed to be done in order to reclaim them," Judge Reardon said.

"It is a picture that I, as a reasonably experienced family court judge, find very difficult to comprehend."

At the last minute, in a desperate attempt to hold on to her children, Marten had offered to separate from Gordon, but the judge simply did not believe she would go through with it.

She couldn't see either parent providing a safe home any time soon.

Eight months later, Gordon and Marten - who was by now pregnant again - left their house in south-east London, and went on the run from authorities - beginning the fatal journey that ended in baby Victoria's death.

The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel is now carrying out a national review into Victoria's death, to examine how "agencies can better safeguard children in similar circumstances".

A hosepipe ban affecting 1.1 million people across several postcode areas has been announced by Thames Water.

The water firm said the measure would come into place across Swindon, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Wiltshire on 22 July due to a lack of rain and increasing demand, which had stretched supplies.

It bans the use of a hosepipe for activities such as watering the garden, washing the car or filling a paddling pool.

It comes as the Environment Agency said it had declared a state of prolonged dry weather in large parts of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Surrey.

Thames Water said the temporary restriction would cover areas with postcodes beginning with OX, GL, SN, RG4, RG8 and RG9.

The ban does not affect businesses where hosepipe use is part of their purpose - for example, garden centres and car washes - but the company said everyone in the region should be "mindful" of water use.

Thames Water said prolonged hot weather meant there was less water available as well as a higher demand, with customers using up to 30% more water when temperatures were above 25C.

Nevil Muncaster, strategic water resources director at Thames Water, said he did not "anticipate the situation will improve any time soon".

"We have to take action now," he said.

"This has been a challenging spring and summer with big spikes in customer demand during hot dry days and very little rainfall to replenish local supplies in the Thames Valley."

He encouraged customers both within and outside the ban area to reduce water use, by doing things like turning taps off while brushing teeth, taking shorter showers and not watering their lawns.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

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A backpacker who survived nearly two weeks lost in Western Australia's outback has said she is "simply beyond grateful to have survived".

Caroline Wilga, a 26-year-old German national, was rescued on Friday after spending 11 freezing nights alone and lost in the bushland.

She survived by drinking from puddles and sheltering in a cave, police said.

In her first public statement since being rescued, Ms Wilga said she had hit her head after losing control of her van, causing her to exit the vehicle in a state of confusion.

She was spotted by a driver and airlifted to a hospital in Perth, where she is recovering.

Ms Wilga thanked the medical staff, German consulate and all the people who had helped search for her, in a statement to Western Australia Police posted on Instagram.

"I want to express a huge thank you from the bottom of my heart – a thank you that truly comes from the depth of my soul," she said.

"Some people might wonder why I even left my car, even though I had water, food, and clothing there," Ms Wilga added.

She said she "lost control of the car and rolled down a slope", hitting her head "significantly" in the subsequent crash.

"As a result of the accident, I left my car in a state of confusion and got lost," she added.

"Previously, I didn't know where my place was in a culture on the other side of the world to my own, but now, I feel a part of it. I am deeply impressed by the courage, helpfulness, and warmth that has been shown to me here.

"Western Australia has taught me what it really means to be part of a true community. Here, humanity, solidarity, and care for one another are what truly matter – and in the end, that's what counts most."

She was found walking barefoot by motorist Tania Henley - whom Ms Wilga described as her "saviour and angel" - more than 30km away from where she had abandoned her van, on a scarcely used track north of Beacon.

Ms Henley told Australia's public broadcaster ABC that she saw Ms Wilga waving by the side of the road, and she appeared to be in a "fragile state", suffering from exhaustion, dehydration, insect bites and an injured foot.

"Everything in this bush is very prickly. I just can't believe that she survived. She had no shoes on, she'd wrapped her foot up," Ms Henley said.

Before her rescue, Ms Wilga was last seen at a general store in the town of Beacon, Western Australia, in her van on 29 June.

"I am certain that I survived only thanks to this incredible outpouring of support," she said.

"The thought of all the people who believed in me, searched for me, and kept hoping for me gave me the strength to carry on during my darkest moments," she said.

The rescue was down to "sheer luck", acting police inspector Jessica Securo said in a news conference.

A former Conservative MP has been given a community order and fine for harassing her ex-wife.

Jamie Wallis, who is now known as Katie Wallis and uses female pronouns, represented Bridgend from 2019 to 2024.

At an earlier hearing, the 41-year-old from Butetown in Cardiff denied harassing Rebecca Wallis, now known as Rebecca Lovell, between 14 February and 21 March.

Wallis was sentenced to a 12-month community order involving 12 days of rehabilitation activity and fined £500 plus £650 costs and a £114 surcharge.

A restraining order was also imposed for 12 months to prevent contact with Rebecca Lovell.

The former MP made unwanted phone calls, sent unwanted messages and a voice note.

Cardiff Magistrates Court heard that the messages contained abusive language while accusing Rebecca Lovell of being "mean" and seeking to find out details about her new relationship.

One message complained about access to Wallis's family, another demanded £350,000 within 15 minutes and wished to ensure that Wallis's former wife and others "never have a happy moment again".

Wallis, who was the first MP to openly begin the process of gender transitioning, previously told the court: "My name is Katie Wallis, but my legal name is Jamie Wallis".

District Judge Rhys Williams asked Wallis's barrister how he should address the defendant.

Defending, Narita Bahra KC told the court that Wallis identifies as she, "her dead name is Jamie. Her current name is Katie".

Wallis and the victim were in a relationship for more than 15 years and separated in 2020, with their divorce finalised in 2024.

In a personal impact statement, Rebecca Lovell said the messages left her "drowning in a chaos that was not of my own making" and concerned that Wallis would turn up at her house.

She said she was left wondering if threats of suicide were real.

"I torture myself wondering if I deserve the vile slurs," she said.

She added, "I can't remember a day I haven't cried. The woman I used to be has been destroyed."

Narita Bahra KC told the court that her client was "having profound and emotional difficulties in completing the passing stage" of transitioning to become a woman, but accepts that the behaviour was "wrong".

Ms Bahra said that Wallis was at a "crucial turning point" in the transitioning process and in "profound mental crisis" when the messages were sent and that there was acceptance of wrongdoing and apology in the final message.

Shortly after the final message was sent, Wallis was found by police and sectioned under the mental health act before being arrested and later charged.

Ms Bahra told the court it was "really disappointing that South Wales Police and the Crown Prosecution Service have shown no compassion" by pursuing a prosecution.

She added it was "disillusioning and disappointing that South Wales Police and the CPS demonstrated a lack of understanding" to what she said were the "unique stresses" of transitioning.

A report into BBC show MasterChef has found 45 allegations against Gregg Wallace were upheld including one of unwelcome physical contact and another three of being in a state of undress.

In total, the report says 83 allegations were made against the TV presenter, with the majority of the substantiated claims relating to inappropriate sexual language and humour, but also culturally insensitive and racist comments.

The inquiry, conducted by an independent law firm, was ordered by MasterChef's production company Banijay in the wake of a BBC News investigation which first revealed claims of inappropriate sexual comments against Wallace.

Ahead of the report's release, Wallace insisted it had cleared him of "the most serious and sensational allegations".

Last week, it emerged that he had been sacked as presenter of the cooking show, as dozens more people came forward to BBC News with fresh claims against him.

The 50 people who came forward to BBC News said they encountered Wallace across a range of shows and settings.

Around 20 were on Banijay productions, but others related to areas like night clubs, awards ceremonies and other TV shows. Some of the individuals we heard from also contributed to the Banijay inquiry.

A decision has not yet been made about unseen series of MasterChef which was filmed last year.

The report also says that ten standalone allegations were made against other people, two of which were substantiated.

Both of those substantiated allegations , which did not involve Wallace, relate to inappropriate language, one of swearing and one of racist language.

The investigation team also found evidence that between 2005 and 2024, six complaints were raised with the production company and six with the BBC.

Patrick Holland, chief executive of Banijay UK, said in earlier years, "it is clear that escalation procedures were not as robust as they should have been".

"We are extremely sorry to anyone who has been impacted by this behaviour and felt unable to speak up at the time or that their complaint was not adequately addressed," he added.

A BBC statement said: "Although the full extent of these issues were not known at the relevant time, opportunities were missed to address this behaviour – both by the production companies running MasterChef and the BBC.

"We accept more could and should have been done sooner."

The BBC said it apologised to "everyone who has been impacted by Mr Wallace's behaviour", and confirmed it has no plans to work with the presenter in future.

Gregg Wallace has been contacted for comment.

A hosepipe ban affecting 1.1 million people across several postcode areas has been announced by Thames Water.

The water firm said the measure would come into place across Swindon, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Wiltshire on 22 July due to a lack of rain and increasing demand, which had stretched supplies.

It bans the use of a hosepipe for activities such as watering the garden, washing the car or filling a paddling pool.

It comes as the Environment Agency said it had declared a state of prolonged dry weather in large parts of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Surrey.

Thames Water said the temporary restriction would cover areas with postcodes beginning with OX, GL, SN, RG4, RG8 and RG9.

The ban does not affect businesses where hosepipe use is part of their purpose - for example, garden centres and car washes - but the company said everyone in the region should be "mindful" of water use.

Thames Water said prolonged hot weather meant there was less water available as well as a higher demand, with customers using up to 30% more water when temperatures were above 25C.

Nevil Muncaster, strategic water resources director at Thames Water, said he did not "anticipate the situation will improve any time soon".

"We have to take action now," he said.

"This has been a challenging spring and summer with big spikes in customer demand during hot dry days and very little rainfall to replenish local supplies in the Thames Valley."

He encouraged customers both within and outside the ban area to reduce water use, by doing things like turning taps off while brushing teeth, taking shorter showers and not watering their lawns.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

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"She's probably done me out of quite a bit of money - I feel angry and conned."

Julie Gallagher believes her home was sold at a lower price than it could have gone for. There was a buyer who might have offered more for it, an undercover investigation by BBC Panorama can reveal.

Her Connells estate agent appeared to sideline this potential buyer in favour of someone else who had agreed to take out an in-house mortgage.

That mortgage was said to be worth about £2,000 to Connells, while the company potentially stood to make £10,000 in total by arranging add-on services and selling the buyer's property too.

"She sat on this sofa… and said she was actually working for me and she obviously is not, she's working for the company's ends," says Julie. "How dare Connells do that? Just appalling."

Panorama decided to investigate the company after speaking to more than 20 independent financial advisers (IFAs) and mortgage advisers from across England and Wales who had concerns about how the company operated.

One of the biggest estate agencies in the UK, Connells runs 80 chains with more than 1,200 branches. Our undercover reporter, Lucy Vallance, got a job in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in an own-brand office.

During her six weeks there in February, she found evidence that the senior branch manager favoured prospective buyers, if they were planning to take out Connells in-house services, like conveyancing or mortgages, because it made more money for the company.

Connells told us it is "committed to treating all customers and prospective buyers fairly."

Panorama also investigated the online estate agency Purplebricks, after we heard concerns it had been trying to attract sellers by overvaluing properties.

Once a customer was signed up, staff then tried to convince them to cut the asking price, earning commission if successful - a former sales negotiator told us. The whistleblower, who worked for the company between June and October 2024, also filmed online meetings for Panorama.

Purplebricks told us price reductions were once a target for rewarding staff, but that is no longer the case, and it does not overvalue properties to win instructions.

'Hot buyers'

In Abingdon, the undercover reporter found that trying to arrange mortgages could be as important as selling houses - and that Connells' staff felt under pressure to get people signed up.

Connells, like many other estate agencies, has an in-house mortgage-brokering team.

The independent financial advisers we have spoken to - who compete for customers with estate agents' in-house services - say this pressure can lead to some agents in the industry playing fast and loose with the rules.

One practice known as "conditional selling" is forbidden by the Code of Practice for Residential Estate Agents, of which many companies across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland - including Connells - are signatories.

This is when an estate agent suggests, implies or tells you that you must arrange things like mortgages or conveyancing services through their in-house teams - or there will be negative consequences for a deal.

It means estate agents signed up to the code know they should not discriminate against prospective buyers who don't use their in-house services.

Connells' senior branch manager told our reporter, at one point, that she understood conditional selling was not allowed.

But that wasn't the full picture.

• Panorama: Undercover Estate Agent - watch on BBC One on Monday 14 July at 20:00 (22:40 in Northern Ireland) or later on iPlayer

Estate agents are supposed to work in the best interests of their clients, but we saw how pressure for profit shaped decisions at Connells in Abingdon.

One Saturday, our reporter was asked to host an open-house viewing for Julie's four-bedroom house, which was on the market for offers over £300,000. It attracted great interest. Fifteen people attended and others also wanted to book separate viewings.

But the following Monday, the senior branch manager seemed interested in two possible buyers - those speaking to Connells' in-house brokers. The next day, via WhatsApp, she told her staff not to arrange any more viewings on Julie's house.

One signed up to a Connells-brokered mortgage and became known by the senior branch manager as a "hot buyer".

A board in the office titled "Hot Buyers" had the names of all house hunters at the branch who had agreed to take out a mortgage or a conveyancing package through Connells.

The hot buyer for Julie's house made an initial offer, which she rejected, but eventually upped it to successfully secure the property.

There was another potential buyer interested in the house who appeared to have deeper pockets - a cash buyer. She wasn't taking out a mortgage through the company.

Connells told us they spoke to the cash buyer the Monday after the open house and that she was undecided about putting in an offer. A call from the cash buyer later the same day was missed, said the company, and not followed up.

When the undercover reporter told the office administrator that the cash buyer might have offered more, she was told that "just a sale" was "not good enough" for Connells.

"They will probably more likely aim to get somebody who's signed up with us and wants to use our conveyancing, as opposed to someone who is a cash buyer," said the administrator. "That's just how Connells are. That's why they ride you if you don't have enough mortgage appointments."

Lisa Webb, consumer law expert with Which? Magazine, reviewed Panorama's evidence of how this sale was managed.

"This is absolutely something that should be against the law - and something that I think that these estate agents really ought to be investigated by the authorities for, because this should not be happening," she told us.

The undercover reporter secretly filmed her boss - the senior branch manager - saying why she was so keen on the hot buyer. Not only would it mean collecting fees from the seller, the manager explained, but also commission from the in-house mortgage with conveyancing fees on top.

In addition, Connells would try to sell the hot buyer's old house - and earn more fees.

The senior branch manager said the combined deal could, in total, be worth £10,000 to the company.

"That, in itself, is just appalling behaviour," said Lisa Webb from Which? when we showed her the footage.

According to the 1979 Estate Agents Act it is classed as an "undesirable practice" for estate agents to discriminate against prospective buyers if they don't take out a mortgage through in-house brokers.

If they do this, they can be investigated by Trading Standards. But it looks like the rules may not cover the sidelining of potential buyers as seen by Panorama's undercover reporter.

Those rules need to be updated, according to financial journalist Iona Bain.

"There's clearly a grey area here, whereby estate agents are able to accept one buyer that will use the in-house broker and turn everybody else away," she told us.

Homeowner Julie, who has now packed up and left her house ahead of the sale going through, was horrified when we told her what had happened.

"I'm quite appalled really that... she [senior branch manager] has kind of taken options out of my hands and probably done me out of quite a bit of money, really."

• If you have more information about this story, you can reach Panorama directly by email - panorama.reply@bbc.co.uk

Connells said it rejects "any accusation of conditional selling" and that "no harm has been caused" to the customer. There were other offers on Julie's property, it told us, but the accepted offer was the highest.

"It is not the case that customers who use our mortgage services are more likely to successfully purchase a property than those who do not," it added. It said that in the six-week period Panorama was undercover, only two properties out of 14 went to customers using the in-house mortgage service.

It also said it invests "significant time and resources in training our teams to ensure they understand the laws, regulations and guidelines within which they must operate".

"Any employee found to be in breach of these standards faces strict disciplinary action, including dismissal," Connells said.

The senior branch manager told Panorama she was content for Connells to respond on her behalf.

'Overvaluing properties massively'

At Purplebricks, a whistleblower began secretly filming meetings because she says she became frustrated with how the company was being run.

Firstly on her phone, then with a camera provided by Panorama.

The biggest shock for the whistleblower was learning that staff were being incentivised to get price reductions on properties - many of which, she was told by one of the company's local property agents, appeared to have been put on the market for more than they were worth.

"We are overvaluing properties massively just to gain instructions," said the agent to the whistleblower in a private message.

Estate agents often use property valuations to attract customers - and subsequently dropping the asking price is not unusual. The estate agents' code tells companies they "must never deliberately misrepresent the market value of a property".

The whistleblower was also told in the same message from the agent that staff could earn commission if they persuaded sellers to drop their asking prices.

The same agent suggested to her that 18 price drops per month could earn staff £900 in commission.

In an online meeting, the whistleblower's team leader told staff how to approach conversations with sellers about price drops.

He said, when properties go live, sellers can be told that if there aren't many viewings or offers within the first four weeks then they should "have a conversation about [price] reduction".

"So they won't necessarily push the reduction there and then, but they will plant the seed," he added.

Purplebricks told us it doesn't overvalue properties and that while price reductions were once a target for rewarding staff, that was no longer the case. It said it doesn't claim to be perfect and apologises wherever it has fallen short.

Purplebricks staff were also under pressure to sell financial products like mortgages and conveyancing, the whistleblower told us.

During the time she worked there, she said the company encouraged customers to get their conveyancing done through companies it had deals with, rather than look elsewhere.

"We don't want them to get a quote for comparison because we are by far and away very expensive," said her team leader during an online meeting.

When Ryan Evans and Olivia Phelps bought a two-bedroom house in Sutton-in-Ashfield through Purplebricks they ended up buying conveyancing services through the company.

They paid £2,820 last summer. Using price comparison websites, Panorama found that was nearly three times more than the current cheapest quote for the same property.

"We were none the wiser having never done all this before. I certainly felt like maybe they [Purplebricks] had taken advantage of us a bit because we were first-time buyers," Ryan told us.

Like Connells, Purplebricks is also signed up to the Code of Practice for Residential Estate Agents which says: "You should provide a service to both buyers and sellers consistent with fairness, integrity and best practice."

Our whistleblower also recorded her team leader firing-up staff to sell add-on products in addition to conveyancing.

"So let's try and really squeeze every lead for as much as it's got - and I want us to be a bit more relentless," he told staff at one meeting. "The urgency is massive… there is still a heinous amount of money to be made."

Anyone working in sales is encouraged to sell more, says Lisa Webb of Which?, but it is "a real issue" if an estate agent is "incentivising someone to make a very quick decision" or pressuring them "into making decisions too quickly… before they've had the option to shop around".

Purplebricks said it entirely rejects any portrayal of its service as pressure-selling, adding that it does not promote hard-selling and that it focuses on the benefits, not price, when recommending services.

In a statement, it also said that since new owners took over in 2023, it has "worked hard to improve service and build a team and culture that puts customers first".

The whistleblower's team leader did not want to comment and told us he had left Purplebricks.

An aircraft has crashed at London Southend Airport, police have confirmed.

Essex Police said it was alerted to a 12-metre plane on fire at the site in Southend-on-Sea shortly before 16:00 BST on Sunday.

The East of England Ambulance Service said four crews were at the scene including a rapid response vehicle, a hazardous area response vehicle and a senior paramedic.

The Labour MP for Southend West and Leigh, David Burton-Sampson, said on X: "My thoughts are with everyone involved."

Police said, as a precaution, officers have evacuated the Rochford Hundred Golf Club and Westcliff Rugby Club due to its proximity to the incident.

A spokesperson for Essex Police said: "We are working with all emergency services at the scene now and that work will be ongoing for several hours.

"We would please ask the public to avoid this area where possible while this work continues."

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said it was called to the incident at 15:58.

The service has asked people to avoid the area if possible.

A spokesperson said: "Crews from Southend (two), Rayleigh Weir and Basildon (two), along with off-road vehicles from Billericay and Chelmsford attended.

"We are continuing to work at the scene with our emergency services and aviation partners."

A man has been jailed for life for the brutal murder of his girlfriend at their home in South Lanarkshire.

Ewan Methven admitted the violent attack on 21-year-old Phoenix Spencer-Horn at a flat in Glen Lee, East Kilbride, in November 2024.

He had attempted to defeat the ends of justice by covering up the crime and pretending to her family that she was still alive.

Methven was sentenced to a minimum of 23 years in prison at the High Court in Glasgow.

WARNING: This article contains distressing details.

Sentencing Methven, judge Lord Matthews told him he had "rarely heard such outpourings of grief as in the victim impact statements".

He said: "The sadness and deep sense of loss (the family) all feel and continue to feel because of what you did.

"You were a trusted member of her family and you betrayed that trust and robbed her of a life in the cruelest way.

"Not content with what you did to her, you robbed her of all dignity in death by decapitating her and tried to dismember her in an attempt to defeat the ends of justice.

"The way you treated her after her death meant that her family didn't have the comfort of saying goodbye to her."

In a letter to the judge, Methven wrote: "I know how loved Phoenix was and how she made her family complete. I cannot believe I have taken her from them."

Prosecutors had told the court that Methven choked Ms Spencer-Horn before severing her head and trying to remove her limbs and torso from her body.

Earlier that day, Methven, who worked as a postman, had complained to his girlfriend that her waitress shifts made him "lonely".

She had exchanged messages with her mother, Alison Spencer, at 21:37 saying they were eating dinner.

The couple had been together for two years and met at a family party, the court was told.

Around midnight, a downstairs neighbour heard "a loud noise and hurried footsteps" which coincided with increased activity recorded on a phone app measuring Methven's steps.

He had attacked Ms Spencer-Horn with three knives, stabbing her 20 times. The fatal stab wound was to the chest. There were others in that area as well as to the face and buttocks.

Methven tried to cover up the killing for two days.

He spent the weekend driving Ms Spencer-Horn's red Corsa, scrolling through her phone and searching 170 times for internet pornography, as well as making several attempts to buy cocaine, according to prosecutors.He also repeatedly pretended in texts to his victim's mother that her daughter was "alive and well".

During an earlier hearing, prosecutor Christopher McKenna said: "The accused murdered his girlfriend, Phoenix Spencer-Horn, in the top-floor flat they shared.

"Late on Saturday 16 November, he strangled her and stabbed her. He dialled 999 but not until 18 November.

"Her mutilated and decapitated body was discovered only on 18 November."

The court heard that Ms Spencer-Horn had seen her mother the day before she was killed and had been in good spirits at work the day she was murdered.

In a 999 call, Methven claimed that the murder happened during a psychotic episode induced by cocaine, alcohol and steroids - which he claimed he thought had been spiked.

He told the operator he had been "trying to muster up the courage to phone" and that he had "totally blacked out through the thing".

The court heard a delivery driver reported Methven "did not appear to be drunk or under the influence" at 20:00 on the night of the murder.

Police arrived at the flat and found Ms Spencer-Horn's body covered up in the hallway next to two blood-stained knives. Another bloodied knife was found in the bathroom.

Methven was described as "calm".

Upon his arrest, he told officers: "I could not stay here with her like that. I tried to dismember her. I moved her from the bath and put her there."

After he was put in a police cell, he said: "I guess this is what my next 25 years look like."

His KC Tony Graham said Phoenix's family and friends were likely to regard Methven as the "personification of evil".

Following Ms Spencer-Horn's death, a fundraising page amassed thousands of pounds to help with funeral costs.

Her family went on to donate much of it to the Women's Aid charity.

Its Glasgow branch thanked the family, saying the cash would be used to protect others and continue her legacy.

"Her name, Phoenix, now stands for more than loss. It stands for action. For change. For refusing to let her story end in silence," the charity posted on social media.

"This is what it means to rise from the ashes. To take this devastating crime and use it to protect others.

"Phoenix should still be here. But her legacy is one that's lifting others up, and that matters. Turning pain into action. Refusing to let her name be forgotten."

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has said the fuel control switches in Boeing aeroplanes are safe, following their reported involvement in a fatal Air India crash that killed 260 people in June.

The safety of the switches has become a key point of concern after a preliminary report on the disaster was released by investigators on Friday.

That report said fuel to the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner engines was cut off moments after take-off from Ahmedabad airport, and highlighted past FAA reports that suggested the switches should be inspected for safety.

The Flight 171 crash, which was headed to London when it crashed, was one of the worst aviation incidents globally in almost a decade.

Switches controlling fuel flow to the jet's engines had been moved from "run" to the "cut-off" position, hampering the thrust of the plane, according to the preliminary report, which was published by the India Aircraft Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB).

Investigators referred to a 2018 FAA advisory, which urged - but did not mandate - operators of Boeing models to inspect the locking feature of the fuel cut-off switches to ensure they could not be moved by accident.

This step was not taken by Air India, the AAIB said in its early findings.

The FAA on Friday told civil aviation authorities that it had seen AAIB's preliminary report.

It noted that its own 2018 advisory "was based on reports that the fuel control switches were installed with the locking feature disengaged" - but added that it does not believe this makes the planes unsafe.

"Although the fuel control switch design, including the locking feature, is similar on various Boeing airplane models, the FAA does not consider this issue to be an unsafe condition that would warrant an Airworthiness Directive on any Boeing airplane models, including the Model 787," said the authority, in an internal note shared with the BBC.

"The FAA will continue to share relevant information with foreign civil aviation authorities as appropriate."

AAIB, which reviewed recovered cockpit voice recordings, reported that one pilot could be heard during the flight asking the other why he cut off the fuel.

"The other pilot responded that he did not do so," said the report.

Investigators said the fuel switches had almost simultaneously flipped from run to cut-off just after take-off. The report did not say how the switches could have flipped during the flight.

Air India Flight 171 was scheduled to fly from Ahmedabad in India to London's Gatwick airport.

The plane crashed into a medical college near the airport within a minute of take-off, killing 260 people who were mostly passengers. One British national survived the crash.

Investigators are expected to produce a more detailed report in 12 months.

The mother of Bebe King who was killed in the Southport knife attacks has said her daughter had the "biggest heart" and she wanted to "carry on her light" by providing grief support for children.

Bebe, six, Alice Aguiar, nine, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were murdered at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop last July.

Bebe's parents have launched Bebe's Hive to provide creative sessions using art, music and storytelling to help bereaved children.

Her mum, Lauren King, told BBC Breakfast: "Bebe was so full of joy and had the biggest heart".

Mrs King added: "She was very caring and creative, and we want to carry on her light and we want to do that with Bebe's Hive."

She said she had "turned to creativity" in her own grief and she wanted to offer that to children in the community who had lost loved ones.

Setting up Bebe's hive was "a way to concentrate on the beautiful personalities" of children, she said.

"Bebe's with me all the time, but everything we put into Bebe's Hive – it's got Bebe at the forefront – it carries me."

Mrs King said the project to "offer support to grieving children" was "very special to us".

She added: "We always associated the bee with Bebe even before she was born.

"Hives are extremely nurturing. They are a community and look out for each other.

"That's something that's really important to us and we want to provide for the children of Southport."

Mrs King said bees were like Bebe as "they are very cheeky, very sweet and they dance to communicate" and "Bebe definitely did a lot of dancing".

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It wasn't just the heatwave making people feel faint at the Wimbledon finals as some of the hottest stars - including Paul Mescal and Nicole Kidman - joined royals in SW19.

A TikTok creator has urged social media users to be more aware of disinformation after a video claiming she was dead was watched 650,000 times.

Grace Wolstenholme, 22, has gained 1.3 million followers since 2021 for her videos which talk about living with cerebral palsy.

One of her most popular videos was used without her permission by an account appearing to sell pillows, and was captioned: "I lost my autistic sister today so I bought this pillow to imitate cuddling her."

TikTok confirmed the video had been removed for violating its community guidelines. Despite numerous attempts, the BBC has been unable to contact the user who shared the video.

"There's a lot of bad people on social media, so you do need to check the facts," said Ms Wolstenholme, who splits her time between Essex and London.

Her original video, posted in 2021, has been liked 5.2 million times and shows her throwing a punch and falling over in a gym class while working with a personal trainer.

Ms Wolstenholme said she became aware of its reuse in the death hoax, uploaded in May, when someone she knows contacted her mum to pass on their condolences.

Ms Wolstenholme had been keeping a low profile online because she had been unwell for about three months, which she said made the hoax appear genuine.

"People were commenting saying 'rest in peace, Grace. I love you'. People were severely devastated hearing I was dead."

She said she had lost thousands of followers and seen a drop in views because of people assuming she was dead, which had reduced her income.

TikTok rewards its most popular creators by paying them based on video views and engagements.

Ms Wolstenholme said she was also frustrated by further disinformation.

"My disability isn't autism, it's cerebral palsy. So he got my disability wrong, and said I was dead," she added.

Ms Wolstenholme said the fake video was taken off TikTok after she contacted someone on Instagram who had the same username.

But it was reposted on TikTok days later and the user sent a series of offensive messages to Ms Wolstenholme.

TikTok removed the video after it was contacted by the BBC, and said it had violated its community guidelines.

It did not comment on Ms Wolstenholme's concerns around the sharing of disinformation on the platform.

'Triggering'

Ms Wolstenholme said her followers were "deeply disgusted" by what had happened.

"It's triggering for my followers to see because some of my followers suffer with their mental health," she said.

A second video appearing to mock Ms Wolstenholme's disability was posted by the same TikTok account.

The TikTok and Instagram accounts and their associated website are no longer active.

The name of the business was not that of any limited company registered at Companies House and the VAT number it displayed was not associated with any UK business.

The BBC called and emailed the shop using contact details found on its website but did not get a response, and unsuccessfully messaged the TikTok account and another profile which appeared to match the person in the videos.

Ms Wolstenholme reported the harassment to the Metropolitan Police, which confirmed it was exploring "several lines of inquiry".

A police spokeswoman said: "The victim continues to be supported by officers. At this stage no arrests have been made."

If you are affected by any of the issues in this story, details of help and support are available at BBC Action Line

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'Let's get ready to rumble… finally'

'Tremendous sport'

Heightened security at MetLife Stadium

Trump in close proximity during trophy lift

A report into BBC show MasterChef has found 45 allegations against Gregg Wallace were upheld including one of unwelcome physical contact and another three of being in a state of undress.

In total, the report says 83 allegations were made against the TV presenter, with the majority of the substantiated claims relating to inappropriate sexual language and humour, but also culturally insensitive and racist comments.

The inquiry, conducted by an independent law firm, was ordered by MasterChef's production company Banijay in the wake of a BBC News investigation which first revealed claims of inappropriate sexual comments against Wallace.

Ahead of the report's release, Wallace insisted it had cleared him of "the most serious and sensational allegations".

Last week, it emerged that he had been sacked as presenter of the cooking show, as dozens more people came forward to BBC News with fresh claims against him.

The 50 people who came forward to BBC News said they encountered Wallace across a range of shows and settings.

Around 20 were on Banijay productions, but others related to areas like night clubs, awards ceremonies and other TV shows. Some of the individuals we heard from also contributed to the Banijay inquiry.

A decision has not yet been made about unseen series of MasterChef which was filmed last year.

The report also says that ten standalone allegations were made against other people, two of which were substantiated.

Both of those substantiated allegations , which did not involve Wallace, relate to inappropriate language, one of swearing and one of racist language.

The investigation team also found evidence that between 2005 and 2024, six complaints were raised with the production company and six with the BBC.

Patrick Holland, chief executive of Banijay UK, said in earlier years, "it is clear that escalation procedures were not as robust as they should have been".

"We are extremely sorry to anyone who has been impacted by this behaviour and felt unable to speak up at the time or that their complaint was not adequately addressed," he added.

A BBC statement said: "Although the full extent of these issues were not known at the relevant time, opportunities were missed to address this behaviour – both by the production companies running MasterChef and the BBC.

"We accept more could and should have been done sooner."

The BBC said it apologised to "everyone who has been impacted by Mr Wallace's behaviour", and confirmed it has no plans to work with the presenter in future.

Gregg Wallace has been contacted for comment.

The mother of Bebe King who was killed in the Southport knife attacks has said her daughter had the "biggest heart" and she wanted to "carry on her light" by providing grief support for children.

Bebe, six, Alice Aguiar, nine, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were murdered at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop last July.

Bebe's parents have launched Bebe's Hive to provide creative sessions using art, music and storytelling to help bereaved children.

Her mum, Lauren King, told BBC Breakfast: "Bebe was so full of joy and had the biggest heart".

Mrs King added: "She was very caring and creative, and we want to carry on her light and we want to do that with Bebe's Hive."

She said she had "turned to creativity" in her own grief and she wanted to offer that to children in the community who had lost loved ones.

Setting up Bebe's hive was "a way to concentrate on the beautiful personalities" of children, she said.

"Bebe's with me all the time, but everything we put into Bebe's Hive – it's got Bebe at the forefront – it carries me."

Mrs King said the project to "offer support to grieving children" was "very special to us".

She added: "We always associated the bee with Bebe even before she was born.

"Hives are extremely nurturing. They are a community and look out for each other.

"That's something that's really important to us and we want to provide for the children of Southport."

Mrs King said bees were like Bebe as "they are very cheeky, very sweet and they dance to communicate" and "Bebe definitely did a lot of dancing".

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has said the fuel control switches in Boeing aeroplanes are safe, following their reported involvement in a fatal Air India crash that killed 260 people in June.

The safety of the switches has become a key point of concern after a preliminary report on the disaster was released by investigators on Friday.

That report said fuel to the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner engines was cut off moments after take-off from Ahmedabad airport, and highlighted past FAA reports that suggested the switches should be inspected for safety.

The Flight 171 crash, which was headed to London when it crashed, was one of the worst aviation incidents globally in almost a decade.

Switches controlling fuel flow to the jet's engines had been moved from "run" to the "cut-off" position, hampering the thrust of the plane, according to the preliminary report, which was published by the India Aircraft Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB).

Investigators referred to a 2018 FAA advisory, which urged - but did not mandate - operators of Boeing models to inspect the locking feature of the fuel cut-off switches to ensure they could not be moved by accident.

This step was not taken by Air India, the AAIB said in its early findings.

The FAA on Friday told civil aviation authorities that it had seen AAIB's preliminary report.

It noted that its own 2018 advisory "was based on reports that the fuel control switches were installed with the locking feature disengaged" - but added that it does not believe this makes the planes unsafe.

"Although the fuel control switch design, including the locking feature, is similar on various Boeing airplane models, the FAA does not consider this issue to be an unsafe condition that would warrant an Airworthiness Directive on any Boeing airplane models, including the Model 787," said the authority, in an internal note shared with the BBC.

"The FAA will continue to share relevant information with foreign civil aviation authorities as appropriate."

AAIB, which reviewed recovered cockpit voice recordings, reported that one pilot could be heard during the flight asking the other why he cut off the fuel.

"The other pilot responded that he did not do so," said the report.

Investigators said the fuel switches had almost simultaneously flipped from run to cut-off just after take-off. The report did not say how the switches could have flipped during the flight.

Air India Flight 171 was scheduled to fly from Ahmedabad in India to London's Gatwick airport.

The plane crashed into a medical college near the airport within a minute of take-off, killing 260 people who were mostly passengers. One British national survived the crash.

Investigators are expected to produce a more detailed report in 12 months.

The Bank of England is prepared to make larger interest rate cuts if the job market shows signs of slowing down, its governor has said.

In an interview with the Times, Andrew Bailey said "I really do believe the path is downward" on interest rates.

Interest rates currently stand at 4.25% and will be reviewed at the Bank's next meeting on 7 August.

They affect mortgage, credit card and savings rates for millions of people.

In the Times interview, Bailey said there were consistent signs that businesses are "adjusting employment and hours" and are giving smaller pay rises following UK Chancellor Rachel Reeve's move to increase employers' national insurance contributions.

Reeves raised national insurance rates for employers from 13.8% to 15% in April this year, in a move the government estimated would generate £25bn a year.

Bailey said the UK's economy was growing behind its potential, opening up "slack" that would help to bring down ­inflation.

"I think the path [for interest rates] is down. I really do believe the path is downward," the governor said.

"But we continue to use the words 'gradual and careful' because... some people say to me 'why are you cutting when inflation's above target?"'

Interest rates were held at 4.25% during the Bank's last meeting in June, following two cuts earlier in the year.

During that meeting, Bailey also said interest rates would take a "gradual downward path".

The UK economy contracted by 0.1% in May, after also shrinking in April, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The unexpected dip was mainly driven by a drop in manufacturing, while retail sales were also "very weak", said the Office.

The UK's performance adds pressure on the government, which has made boosting economic growth a key priority.

It wasn't just the heatwave making people feel faint at the Wimbledon finals as some of the hottest stars - including Paul Mescal and Nicole Kidman - joined royals in SW19.

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